take up a parable. Reference to Pentateuch (Num_23:7, Num_23:18; Num_24:3, Num_24:15, Num_24:20, Num_24:23). Twice in Job (Job_27:1; Job_29:1); once in Isaiah (Isa_14:4); once in Habakkuk (Hab_2:6). Not elsewhere. App-92. Note the Figure of speech Chleuasmos (App-6).
lament with a doleful lamentation. Note the Figures of speech Polyptoton and Paronomasia (App-6), for emphasis. Hebrew venahah nehi nihyah = wail a wailing of woe.
changed = changed [for the worse]. Hebrew. mur; not halaph = changed [for the better]. See note on Lev_27:10.
turning away = to a heathen: i.e. our enemy the Assyrian.